Vinci Pharmaceuticals Inc. Closes More Than $8 Million Series A Financing to Advance EPIPLANT™ Drug Delivery Platform

AVON-BY-THE-SEA, N.J., Oct. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Vinci Pharmaceuticals Inc., a specialty ophthalmic pharmaceutical company, has closed an $8+ million Series A financing round as the company advances development of its innovative EPIPLANT™ delivery platform. Previously, the company raised $8.5M, excluding interest on convertible notes, in Seed Stage financing, for a total of more than $16.5M.

Developed in the laboratory of Karl Csaky, MD, PhD, and licensed from the Retina Foundation of the Southwest in Dallas, Texas, EPIPLANT™ is a proprietary episcleral implant platform designed to provide sustained drug delivery to retinal tissues and address limitations associated with intraocular injections. Vinci is advancing the program with guidance from its scientific advisory board of physicians.

The financing was led by Dynagrow Capital, LLLP, with support from MintPharma Capital. Proceeds from the financing are expected to support GMP manufacturing, testing and release activities of the EPIPLANT™ VCI-002 product, and the Phase 1/2a study in 2027.

"We are grateful for the support and confidence of our investors and board, who recognize the potential of our EPIPLANT™ delivery system to transform the treatment of sight-threatening diseases and address unmet needs in the field," said Philip A. Gioia, Co-founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Vinci Pharmaceuticals. "This financing supports an important next step: preparing for our first-in-human study. We believe EPIPLANT™ has the potential to provide safe sustained drug delivery to retinal tissues and reduce treatment burden for patients and physicians."

Sarah Hassan, Managing Director at Dynagrow Capital added, "Vinci's EPIPLANT represents a potential paradigm shift for eye doctors and their patients facing retinal disease challenges. This potential multi-molecule platform technology involving a needle-free delivery system for small molecules could dramatically increase adherence time for patients presently experiencing an unacceptably high dropout rate due to treatment burden. We are happy to partner with Vinci's talented team and support them in this most pivotal time advancing EPIPLANTVCI-002 to patients."

The company has been granted multiple patents covering its proprietary EPIPLANT™ technology and has completed preliminary preclinical testing. Vinci plans to initiate a first-in-human Phase 1/2a clinical study in 2027.

Existing drug delivery approaches for retinal diseases often require administration directly into the eye or face challenges in achieving effective drug concentrations in retinal tissues. EPIPLANT™ is designed to address these limitations through sustained drug delivery from an episcleral implant. The bioerodible platform is designed to accommodate a range of active pharmaceutical ingredients, with the potential to support multiple therapies for retinal diseases.

"EPIPLANT™ delivers targeted drug levels to the macula, making it a more desirable option for treating certain ophthalmic diseases of the retina compared to intravitreal injections, the current standard of care," said Richard Lindstrom, MD, of Minnesota Eye Consultants. "The EPIPLANT™ technology also opens the door to novel therapies for retinal indications that are currently untreated."

Vinci Pharmaceuticals plans one Phase 1/2a clinical trial of its EPIPLANT™ episcleral sustained-release delivery system in 2027. Currently the system can deliver small molecules, allowing for broad application for multiple retinal diseases.

About Vinci Pharmaceuticals
Vinci Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a clinic ready ophthalmic company that is leveraging a novel, proprietary platform to develop first-, best- and only-in-class products with differentiated profiles to treat certain diseases of the retina.

Safe Harbor
This press release contains forward-looking statements, which include information relating to future events, future financial performance, financial projections, strategies, expectations, competitive environment and regulations. Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results and may not be accurate indications of when such performance or results will be achieved.  Forward-looking statements are based on information Vinci Pharmaceuticals has when those statements are made or management's good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the forward-looking statements.

Contact
Vinci Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Phil Gioia
Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO
Email: philip.gioia@vincipharmaceuticals.com